Archive for the ‘Google’ Category

“Erez Lieberman Aiden is a talkative witty fellow, who will bend your ear on any number of intellectual topics. Just don’t ask him what he does. “This is actually the most difficult question that I run into on a regular basis,” he says. “I really don’t have anything for that.”

It is easy to understand why. Aiden is a scientist, yes, but while most of his peers stay within a specific field – say, neuroscience or genetics – Aiden crosses them with almost casual abandon. His research has taken him across molecular biology, linguistics, physics, engineering and mathematics. He was the man behind last year’s “culturomics” study, where he looked at the evolution of human culture through the lens of four per cent of all the books ever published. Before that, he solved the three-dimensional structure of the human genome, studied the mathematics of verbs, and invented an insole called the iShoe that can diagnose balance problems in elderly people. “I guess I just view myself as a scientist,” he says.”

AN: although the profile of Erez is from last year, nonetheless, it is still highly inspiring. All of us can expand our own particular fields of interest by taking a multi / cross/ inter- diciplinary approach to our questionings. The TED talk with Erez and his colleague ,Jean-Baptiste Michel , in 2011 is insightful and delightful !

“Google has added a further 151 galleries and museums to its Art Project, which allows anyone with a computer to consider a virtual wander through the treasures of Versailles, the joys of the National Gallery in London or, if the mood takes them, Brazilian street graffiti in São Paulo.

The expansion of the project, which allows virtual access to artworks in 40 countries, means more than 30,000 objects are available to view, compared with 1,000 in the first version launched last year.

The head of the project, Amit Snood, said: “The Art Project is going global, thanks to our new partners from around the world. It’s no longer just about the Indian student wanting to visit Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It is also about the American student wanting to visit the National Gallery of Modern Art in Delhi.”

Ten more British galleries are joining the National Gallery and the Tate, which were already in the scheme. In London they include England’s first public gallery, the 201-year-old Dulwich Picture Gallery, the V&A, the Serpentine Gallery, the Royal Collection, the Imperial War Museum and the Jewish Museum. Also there are the National Galleries of Scotland and the Walker Art Gallery in Liverpool.

A total of 46 museums have been given the 360-degree Google Street View treatment, allowing visitors to wander through crowd-free galleries using only their mouse – from Tate Britain to the White House to the National Gallery of Australia.

For the others, users will be able to browse a vast array of treasures in high resolution, whether paintings, photographs, sculptures or decorative pieces.

The V&A’s director of programming and public affairs, Damien Whitmore, said he was delighted to be joining up. He said: “Some of the V&A’s greatest treasures will be able to view in extraordinary high resolution for the first time – from the famous Gloucester candlestick, a masterpiece of English metalwork, to the Ardabil carpet, one of the largest examples of Islamic carpets in existence, the wedding suit that the Duke of York wore to his wedding in 1673 to one of the finest examples of Donatello’s work in relief.”

Google also said it was adding new explore and discover tools allowing users to find artworks by period or type or artist.”

“Say goodbye to the Picasa and Blogger names: Google intends to retire several non-Google name brands and rename them as Google products, Mashable has learned.

The move is part of a larger effort to unify its brand for the public launch of Google+, the search giant’s social initiative.

Blogger and Picasa aren’t going away, of course — they’re two of Google’s most popular products. Instead, according to two sources familiar with the matter, Google intends to rename Picasa “Google Photos” and Blogger will become “Google Blogs.” Several other Google brands are likely to be affected, though our sources made it clear that YouTube would not be rebranded. The technology giant shut down Google Video, its failed web video service, in May.”

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Chris Brogan , well known social media blogger , speculates on some of the implications and impacts of Google + . I concur that it is not critical to be perfect or comprehensive in the speculation , rather , do some thinking about the topic and play with the tool. That is how we learn and evolve…

“Again, the point isn’t to be right. The point is to get you thinking on any of these potential directions above, and thinking about how it might impact you, or your clients, or your company, and the like. You’re definitely encouraged to share your own perspective of what else Google+ might mean. Speculate. It’s something we’re allowed to do as bloggers. So share your thoughts. Disagree. That’s the whole purpose of doing a post like this. But also, take time to speculate on what WILL happen, because I feel some of these possible futures are closer at hand than you or I can imagine.”

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“For more than a decade people have prophesied the end of cash and credit cards. And for the past two years the drumbeat around mobile payments has grown steadily louder with the adoption of smartphones. Now numerous companies are jockeying to participate in what expected to be a huge market that will eventually generate billions in fees and revenue.

In the same way that Apple redefined and accelerated the development of the smartphone market with the iPhone in 2007, Google Wallet marks the beginning of the mobile payments era. Google is certainly not the first company operating in the sector, and it might not turn out to be the leader. But with last week’s announcement, Google has helped to bring new coherence and focus to the otherwise Darwinian and chaotic landscape of mobile payments.”